German Chancellor Merkel: One Should Take 'Integrity and Self-Control' as the Principle of Conduct
On May 30, 2019, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was invited to address Harvard University's commencement. In her speech, Merkel shared her experience of growing up in East Germany and, without naming names, criticized a series of policies by the sitting U.S. President Trump aimed at creating confrontation and division. Merkel urged all graduates to "destroy the wall of ignorance that fuels nationalism."
At the end of her speech, Merkel urged all Harvard graduates to take "integrity and self-control" as the principle of conduct in their future careers. Merkel's speech was warmly received by Harvard faculty and students; the applause was thunderous and cheers rang out.
"Integrity and self-control" are the most important qualities that help humanity escape the law of the jungle and move toward civilization. Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself; only when everyone knows self-control can society have friendliness and peace. Character and self-control are also the foundation on which a person establishes himself in society; a person without character and lacking self-control can hardly gain the trust and support of others and will ultimately end up in isolation.
Law, morality, and various social rules are, in the final analysis, all established to maintain social peace. At the enforcement level, they can only rely on each person's own character and self-control to restrain his behavior. If a person's character and self-control can produce enough restraint to make him do good and avoid evil, he can become a person who is beneficial and harmless to society.
Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology, believed that humanity's fine character traits can bring endless joy; helping others is indeed a noble act that brings joy—and this kind of joy, compared with the joy brought by material rewards, is purer and more lasting.
So good character is also the foundation of a positive and optimistic mindset. Valuing a child's character education from an early age, cultivating his virtues and his self-control, is equivalent to giving the grown child a rich gift that never runs out in a lifetime.
Excessive selfishness and self-absorption bring a person many troubles. Because in this society not many people want to deal with someone who is too selfish and self-absorbed. Selfishness and self-absorption seem to protect oneself, but in fact they make enemies for oneself. It is just that some people, under long-standing habitual thinking, cannot see this.
The fainter the concept of "I," the easier it is to be happy and content.
Many philosophers cultivate the state of "no-self," especially Buddhists—only regrettably, not everyone can have a deep understanding of true "no-self," so many people cannot yet derive joy from this self-cultivation.
Cultivating the spirit of "no-self" must be rooted in character and self-restraint. Only by laying down the deep-seated habits, selfishness, arrogance, and prejudice in one's heart can one become a person without self. A person without self can naturally restrain his behavior, because for him the obsessions and desires in his heart have already faded, so he will no longer act wildly for the sake of a "small self."
We encounter all kinds of problems in life; although there are many objective reasons, fundamentally they are mainly related to the deficiency of our own character, self-control, and other comprehensive abilities. The reason many people suffer, in the final analysis, cannot be blamed on others; it is simply because their own desires are too strong and their character not yet refined enough.
The ancients said: "He who follows the Way gains much help; he who abandons the Way gains little." If a person has good enough character and strong enough self-control, he is a person who "follows the Way," and others are happy to associate and work with him and happy to help him solve all kinds of difficulties. Conversely, nothing goes smoothly.
The might of the strong will one day wane, so might is not to be relied on. The Chinese ancients often said "great virtue carries things"; only those of fine character can "carry things." The ancients also said: "To win the delight of a thousand is not as good as to dissolve the resentment of one." Only when a person's character passes muster, when his words and deeds are self-disciplined, restrained, and knowing what not to do, can he grudge fewer resentments and plant more good roots.
So for the mind to be healthy, it must first be sunny; it must have good character and self-control.